Will Julian Assange be handed over to U.S. after Sweden?

Now that Julian Assange's appeal against extradition has failed, fears are that he will then be shipped on from Sweden to the U.S.A.

Digital Journal reported on June 14 that Assange's appeal to the U.K. Supreme Court to reopen his extradition case had been denied.

He is due to be extradited to Sweden in two weeks, where he is wanted for questioning over allegations of sexual assault and rape. It is feared that once in Sweden, he is likely to then be sent on to the U.S.A.

The U.S. Government has apparently issued a secret, closed indictment against Assange. Because of this he will be branded a terrorist and a fair trial seems very unlikely should he be sent to the U.S.A.

David Swanson, an author and activist told RT that it is likely that Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, will be handed over to the U.S. once he is in Sweden. He will then be tried for espionage, Swanson said, especially given “the unusualness of the extradition with no charges in place.”

Swanson referred to the thousands of classified documents leaked by the whistleblower, in which were quotes stating that the U.S. government “has issued a secret closed indictment and pressured other governments in Britain and in Sweden to ship Julian Assange to the U.S.”

He added that Assange would probably face torture, or even murder in the U.S. - which are the very crimes that WikiLeaks has exposed.

Quoting an email from U.S.-based intelligence company, Stratfor, which was leaked in February this year, U.S. prosecutors have already issued the secret indictment.

Referring to the Stratfor files which were obtained by the hacktivist group Anonymous and passed on to WikiLeaks, on January 26, 2011, Stratfor official Fred Burton wrote in an email, “Not for Pub. — We have a sealed indictment on Assange. Pls protect.”

In a further email Burton wrote, "Assange is going to make a nice bride in prison. Screw the terrorist. He’ll be eating cat food forever."

According to U.S. attorney Kevin Zeese, Assange's extradition ruling is "extraordinary", as no actual charges have been leveled against him. He is being sent to Sweden for "questioning", but Zeese told RT, “He could’ve done the questioning by Skype. There’s no need to go to Sweden to be questioned.”

Zeese further said that the U.S. is scared by the information that WikiLeaks and Assange have uncovered and shared with the world, as this reveals corruption at all levels of the U.S. Government.

Zeese also referred to a leaked memo, signed by Hilary Clinton, which ordered U.S. politicians to spy on diplomats coming to the U.N. Referring to the double standards in the Obama administration, Zeese stressed, “She should be being prosecuted, not Julian Assange.”

There is great concern that Assange will be sharing the same fate as Bradley Manning. The U.S. army private is currently facing court martial for leaking classified military information to WikiLeaks, including videos of the slaughter of innocent civilians and journalists.

Zeese said, “There is an embarrassment to the US Empire, but no one has been killed by this. There has been no undermining of US national security,”

He stressed that what really worries the government is that the public can see what the U.S. does on a “day-to-day basis.”

“You see the good, the bad, the ugly and the illegal of US foreign policy” which is exactly what the U.S. government does not want people to see," he concluded.

On the subject of U.S. treatment of whistleblowers, David Swanson said, “The US government has very much blurred the line between law enforcement and war.”